From 9 to 12 October 2006 the European seminar ‘Balancing regional planning and ecological networks in South-East European and Black Sea region’ will be held in Strasbourg (France). This seminar, which is being organized by ECNC, EUCC-the Coastal Union and Eurosite, as part of the SEENET programme, will take place back-to-back with the joint meeting of the Emerald Group of Experts and the Expert Committee of the Pan-European Ecological Network (taking place on 9 and 10 October 2006).

The theme of this seminar was selected by the Focus Group of the SEENET programme ‘Facilitating the establishment of the Pan-European Ecological Network in South-East Europe and the Black Sea Area’ (SEENET). It was felt that regional planning is of vital importance for realizing ecological networks in this region.

The following issues will receive due attention at the seminar:

• Why is regional development important for establishing ecological networks, and what are the problems and opportunities?
• How to ensure that regional and physical planners include territorial requirements for the functioning of ecological networks?
• How could landscape planning further the establishment of ecological networks?
• How to promote the importance of the establishment of the Pan-European Ecological Network in the South-East European and Black Sea region in the framework of CEMAT and the European Landscape Convention?
• How to deal with coastal and marine planning in the framework of ecological networks?

The seminar will take the form of an interactive meeting, with a strong focus on exchange of views and capacity building.

The target group of the seminar is people working in the field of biodiversity and landscape conservation and management, also within the framework of regional planning in countries of South-East Europe and the Black Sea area. A number of regional planners working with biodiversity and landscape issues will also be invited, to allow the direct interactions of views.

For more information on the SEENET training seminar, contact Ms Agnes Bruszik (bruszik@ecnc.org) or Ana Nieto (nieto@ecnc.org) and visit www.seenet.info